Daphna Whitmore talks with Marguerite Stern, the founder of a vibrant street art protest movement that has spread across France and to other countries. Marguerite talks about what drew her to the women’s movement, the harassment on the streets of France, the fact that every few days a woman is killed by a boyfriend or husband. We talk about the schisms in the women’s movement, free speech and hate speech laws, the Nordic Model laws in France against the sex trade and what that means in practice.
Angry at street harassment, Marguerite was drawn to Ukraine feminist/refugee Inna Shevchenko and the topless protest group Femen. Marguerite talks about being imprisoned in Tunisia while campaigning for the release of a woman prisoner.
The protest collages were influenced by the suffragette posters which were bold and simple in style. Marguerite moved to Paris and soon there were thousands of women making collage messages against femicide.
The formation of L’Amazone, a women’s group of activists and artists to fight for women’s rights. The split in feminism and the vitriol radical feminists face.
3rd wave feminism promotes things that please men. We discuss the application of laws that France adopted in 2016 against the sex trade. Hate speech and free speech.
Self-imposed constraints on criticising religion within the women’s movement. Religion as a political tool to oppress women. Free speech is part of the French identity. Heroines de la Rue just published.
Redline 